WPMissionControl 1.2.0 — Major Upgrade to System-Level Observability

We’ve just released WPMissionControl v1.2.0, a focused update that brings a whole new layer of system-level error visibility into the existing activity log.

WPMissionControl already logged a rich set of WordPress events — updates, user actions, content changes, media events, and settings modifications.
With 1.2.0, we extend this foundation to cover the parts of WordPress that break silently: cron, REST API, AJAX, fatal errors, and database failures.

This makes the activity timeline dramatically more useful for debugging, correlation, and long-term observability.

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⚡ New in 1.2.0: Expanded System & Error Logging

1. Fatal Error Logger (shutdown handler)

We now capture fatal errors that previously disappeared into the void:

• PHP fatal errors
• parse/compile/core errors
• recoverable errors
• cron-specific fatals

This gives you a reliable trail of why a request died before completing.

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2. Cron Issue Detection

Two cron-related subsystems were added:

• Loopback failure logging
  Logs WP_Error instances returned during cron spawning.
• Missed cron detection
  Identifies scheduled events delayed by 5+ minutes (sometimes hours) — a common source of broken background tasks.

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3. REST API Error Logger

Captures:

• REST API errors (WP_Error)
• Server 500+ REST responses
• Method, route, param length, error message, code

This finally exposes silent API failures that break integrations or admin screens.

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4. AJAX Failure Logger (admin-ajax.php)

A lightweight detector for admin-side AJAX errors:

• Failing AJAX actions
• Fatal AJAX crashes
• HTTP status
• Execution time
• Basic payload size (len-only, no PII)

Essential for diagnosing broken admin UI, builders, plugin settings pages, etc.

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5. Database Error Logger

Hooks into the WordPress DB layer and logs:

• MySQL errors
• Failing queries (safe length-limited)
• The plugin or theme responsible (via backtrace scan)

This makes plugin/theme-level issues visible for the first time.

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🔒 Reliability & Safety Enhancements

Along with new sensors, this release includes:

• Guard files (.htaccess, web.config, index.html) to secure log directories
• File locking during writes
• Truncated error/query strings to avoid overgrowth
• Per-request deduplication to prevent log spam
• Whitelist-based meta logging to avoid PII
• Safe detection of AJAX action, REST route, cron hook, etc.

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🌐 Why this release matters

Until now, many types of failures in WordPress were invisible:

• Cron silently failing
• AJAX handlers returning 500
• REST API dying inside callbacks
• Fatal errors in uncommon code paths
• DB errors hidden behind $wpdb->last_error

With 1.2.0, WPMissionControl closes the gap by adding system-level diagnostics to the existing content/admin/audit log.

This creates a far more complete timeline — ideal for correlation with uptime events, SSL issues, response time anomalies, screenshot diffs, and more.

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🚀 Available Now

You can update to v1.2.0 via WordPress.org or your plugin dashboard.

This release is an important step toward our long-term goal:
a complete, lightweight observability layer for WordPress, powered by AI-driven analysis and external processing.